Year custody for fatal attack boy

The schoolboy triggered the homophobic attack on Mr Kerr

A schoolboy who launched an attack which ended in the murder of a gay man has been detained for a year.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, a judge told the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.

The boy punched council officer James Kerr, 51, in the face at South Inch Park, in Perth, in April this year.

David Meehan, 19, was given a life term and Martin Soutar, 21, was sentenced to nine years for the homophobic killing.

The court heard how the schoolboy had phoned Soutar and told him he had been assaulted in the park.

Soutar and Meehan arrived at the park and began punching and kicking Mr Kerr on the ground after he had been attacked by the boy.

The court was told that the boy took no further part in the assault but as he walked away from the scene he was heard saying he "hates gays and poofters".

Mr Kerr died from massive head injuries on the day of the attack

Mr Kerr, a Perth and Kinross Council employee from Perth, died in hospital after sustaining massive head injuries.

Meehan, of Glengarry Road in Perth, was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years after admitting murder.

Soutar, of Darnhall Drive in the town, was jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to culpable homicide.

The schoolboy's defence counsel, Mhairi Richards QC, said: "He has made it plain that the deceased made no sexual approach to him."

She said another man, wearing a beige jacket, was involved in an earlier incident on the fatal night with the boy.

Mrs Richards said it had been frightening for the boy and he had made phone calls in a bid to get someone to walk him home.

Meehan and Soutar faced heavier penalties for the killing

Judge Lord Macphail said: "The primary consideration must be you committed an unprovoked and homophobic assault on a man who did not molest you and did not present any danger to you.

"Whatever had happened between you and the man in the beige jacket, you did not behave as if you had been intimidated."

The judge said he took into account that the boy did not take part in the attack by Soutar and Meehan.

However, he added: "There is no doubt you approved of what they did.

"You made no attempt to get help for Mr Kerr, although it was obvious he was seriously injured."

The boy was told he would have faced an 18-month sentence for the attack, if he had not pleaded guilty.